The Saga Of Apollo Enigmar - Turnabout Du Freak
by ComatoseButterfly
Summary: Thirteen-year-olds Apollo Enigmar and Kristoph Leopard are regular kids - they play soccer on the field at break times, skip classes... and are always sneaking out looking for trouble. But when they view the illegal "Cirque Du Freak" freak show, the trouble they find takes its toll on their normal lives... A Cirque Du Freak/Saga Of Darren Shan AU. Rated T for dark themes.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: Yep, I did it - A Cirque Du Freak AU. I'm committing myself to writing out a 12-book series as a fanfiction.**

**For those of you who've read Cirque Du Freak, this chapter is very much just ripped off the original book. However, if you bear with me, I'll be taking more and more creative liberties with this fanfiction as I go, so it won't entirely follow the books. Just bear with me for the first one.**

* * *

Most people don't like their jobs - it's a fact of life that very few people will ever truly achieve their dreams.

In elementary school, they ask, "what do you want to be when you grow up?" The list seems both wondrous and endless - actress, model, astronaut, president, superhero...

When they ask you on sheets of paper at the end of high school, when it's time to begin seriously thinking about it, suddenly everything seems daunting. Unappealing. A chore.

But for my best friend, his dream didn't sound all too hard to achieve. He wanted to be a lawyer, but he was calculating, quick-witted, sharp... and he wasn't exactly poor, either.

He had as good a chance as any to make something of himself.

You wouldn't think a desire to become a lawyer would cause such a chain of events to unravel as the twists and turns of my life story had.

But it seems the hands of fate always manage to keep time on a heart-shaped watch.

It's taken me a long time to really understand that phrase, but after the past eighteen years, I think I finally do.

Before all this happened, I was just a regular kid. Regular kid playing soccer on the field, regular kid messing about in Mr Means' History class... regular kid skipping Miss Courte's English class and hanging about in the boys' toilets. Though in my defence, I had felt rather sick.

Soon enough, a familiar voice called out from outside the cubicle. "Apollo?"

I laughed, pulled myself up off the toilet lid I was sat on (closed, of course) and unlocked the door. Standing on the other side was none other than Kristoph Leopard, smirking back at me. Kristoph was what you'd call a "wild child". At least, that's what my Mom would say. He could throw mean tantrums, get into fights, all that jazz. A lot of people saw him as mean and violent and occasionally people thought he was scary, especially when they caught a flash of the scar on his hand - not me, though.

Kristoph Leopard was my best friend. His name wasn't really Leopard, it was "Leonard", but everyone called him that because it always seemed to fit him. I'd always thought he was great, and the scar (which looked like the face of a devil) just made him all the more interesting. Whenever he threw tantrums (usually after losing a game) I simply avoided him until he was alright. I don't think he really minded that. I stuck by him every other time.

Besides my other best friends Cody Hackins and Hugh O'Connor, there was no one I'd rather hang out with than Kristoph.

"Have you been sick?" He asked, wearing a wry smile as though illness was the most amusing thing in the world.

I grinned back. For a thirteen year old kid, yes, it was the most amusing thing in the world. "No, it wore off pretty quick. Think Miss Courte will kill me if I sit here until break?"

"It's almost break anyway," Kristoph shrugged, his smirk dropping as he moved out of the way to let me pass and wash my hands. "Which is why I came to fetch you. We need you on our team."

He sounded exasperated in his attempts to make me join in. I was the best striker in our grade. Just yesterday, I'd almost scored a hat-trick - and today would be the day I'd do it for real.

At least, that's what Kristoph had been telling me all the way to and from school yesterday afternoon and this morning. We walked the same way, so unfortunately I wasn't going to be spared until I scored this, either.

We exited the toilets just as the bell rung. Running through the halls behind him, I couldn't wait to get outside and feel the andrenaline start pumping. It was guaranteed to make me feel better. We darted straight on to the field, the first there. This meant we got to pick the goalpost and we got first pick for first team member - Kristoph picked the goalpost the wind was blowing away from, as this would give us the upper hand. He also picked me to be his first teammate. "After tomorrow, everyone will want you," He justified, giving me a light thump on the back.

When the rest of the boys arrived, they all groaned. Each had tried to be the first there, especially due to the windy advantage they could get for picking the right goalpost. It was around then that I noticed Cody pocketing a strange black piece of paper - a strange item that would prove to be far less trivial than I'd considered it at the time.

I was about to ask Cody about it, when the last few boys arrived and team-picking began. This went smoothly - we all had the teams set out exactly the same as always, with no one trying to break that tradition - and then it was time to play.

Immediately, Cody, our centre, took the ball, racing it down from the middle with the other centre and the defender on his heels. I took advantage of their lack of defence, freeing up myself to take the ball, but before Cody could kick it toward me, his opponent slide-tackled him and pivoted the ball back towards Kristoph, in goal. Cody was still trying to get up off the floor, and so the only two people left on our team to help out were Kristoph and Hugh, our defense. The opposing centre kicked the ball a fair bit away from the striker being marked by Hugh, who was able to run to it quickly, and swiftly kicked it toward the goal.

However, I hadn't expected Kristoph to let us down. Within moments, he had leapt up towards the ball, arms ready to catch, and yet still missed.

A resounding "argh!" travelled down the field, starting with Krisoph, then Hugh, then Cody, still racing to get back in position, then finally me.

We still had sixteen minutes of play left, however. There was plenty time to make up for this loss - and that we did. Their centre took the ball first this time, but it wasn't long before our own tackled him, sending a curve ball spiralling down towards me halfway across the pitch. This gave the opposition's centre no time to catch up with it - I only had to deal with their defender now. I took possession of the ball, their defender chasing my tail, and shot the ball straight into the corner of the net, barely making it in.

This time, a cheer rose up amongst our team - the groans of defeat now belonged to the other.

We were now in a tie. They shot another goal, followed by one more from Cody. Then another for them. Then another by me. Which was when things really started to heat up.

There was a tie again - one minute left of break and the score was three all. However I also only needed one more goal for my hat-trick. If I was able to quickly score, I would not only win the game for us, but also a personal achievement for myself.

Game began, and the opposition took possession. Cody and Hugh were unable to tackle, and the opposition's centre kicked-

But Kristoph was faster. Thirty seconds left. Aware of the time, he threw the ball as far as he could; thanks to our wind advantage, it turned out to be fairly far. The wind helped the ball glide over just passed the centre line, and with most of their team still on the other side of it, I quickly rushed over to take the ball. I dribbled it towards the goal, aimed, and shot.

The bell rung just as the ball hit the net, and I yelled out an elongated "Yes!" in response.

I'd actually done it - 3 goals in one game. I'd scored the hat-trick.


	2. Chapter 2

The hat-trick was all anyone could talk about (particularly Kristoph) for most of Mr Means' History class.

Lucky for Kristoph, Mr Means always had a soft spot for Kristoph – and absolutely nobody else. He tended to do well in school, despite his bad reputation outside of class. And the one lesson he was particularly good in was History.

It was then - as Kristoph stopped talking about how I was the best striker in existence and began playing teacher's pet and distracting Mr Means from the rest of the class - that I decided to ask Cody about the black piece of paper I'd noticed earlier.

Cody was reluctant at first, and kept rejecting my note passes and throwing them directly out the window. After the first few notes thrown in his direction begging him to pass the paper around, he finally gave in.

The paper turned out to be an odd poster, which read, as I unfolded it:

"CIRQUE DU FREAK

For one week only!

See:

Acro and Bat the Twisting Twins!

The Snake-Boy! The Wolf-Man!

Mr Wright and his performing spider, Master Charles!

Maximillion Ribs! The Bearded Lady!

Sal Twobellies, World's Fattest Man!"

I passed it over to Hugh, who then took a few moments reading it. After he'd finished, he attempted to pass it to Kristoph, then remembered he still had all of Mr Means' attention.

But the movement to pass had already been started, and Mr Means noticed straight away. He picked the poster from Hugh's hands, and asked about it straight away. He didn't look or sound mad - just disappointed. Which was usually the most painful way to see a teacher.

"I got it off Apollo, sir."

When Mr Means then turned to me, I continued the chain of blame.

"I got it off Cody, sir."

When he turned then to Cody, he responded, "I got it off my cousin, sir." There were no cries of disbelief there - Cody's family wasn't exactly the cleanest kind.

"And what did your cousin want with a thing like this?" Mr Means asked, looking at the poster again with furrowed eyebrows. "It's distasteful. A freak show?"

"Looked interesting, sir," Cody explained, shrugging his shoulders.

"Freak shows are incredibly offensive, you know?" Mr Means said. "They mock those born with disabilities and treat them pretty badly. I don't know why there's one running now, but they're illegal. I suggest you do not attend." The last sentence sounded much colder than the rest, almost as though it was said through gritted teeth.

"Can I have it back, sir?" Cody asked after a long, awkward pause.

Mr Means reluctantly returned the poster after his warning, and continued the History lesson. Just as Mr Means turned to write something on the board, Kristoph turned to look at me, his face completely void of any emotion, as if that warning hadn't stricken a single chord with him, and mouthed "We have to go!".

* * *

As soon as it was lunch break, Kristoph, Cody, Hugh and I all met up on the field to discuss the plan and pile together our money.

"The tickets are twenty bucks each," Cody informed them all, cringing a little at the price. They'd have to get eighty dollars together in order for all of them to go.

"How much has everyone got?" Kristoph asked, the price not even bothering him. It was almost like it was cheap. Kristoph was from a pretty wealthy family - whilst he had no father present, his mother had inherited a fair amount from her parents and worked a good-enough-paying job to keep the fund going. It was natural he'd be ignorant to financial problems.

All of us checked our pockets, offering up what we had. I had thirteen dollars and fourty-three cents (Kristoph told me to keep the coins). Cody had twelve dollars. Hugh, also fairly well-off, had eighteen. Kristoph had none on his person whatsoever.

"So we're... thirty-six dollars short," I mused, a little disappointed. "Can't we all just bring the money tomorrow?"

To this, Cody shook his head. "No. My cousin says they're almost all out of tickets. They could be sold out by tomorrow."

Everyone turned to face Kristoph then, as if to say, "are you sure you have nothing?". To this, he simply smirked and pushed his glasses up.

"Do not worry, my dear friends, the Leonard emergency fund sits in a piggy bank on the kitchen worktop," His smile broadened as he tilted his head slightly to the side. "And we are very well equipped for emergencies."

I looked at him, bemused, sure that the others were just as appalled. "Stealing? From your own family?"

"It's basically not even theft, we have that much," He argued back. I was in no position of wanting to rile him up, so I didn't justify this with a response. He added, more calmly, "I'll buy the tickets. It's only forty dollars, Mom won't even notice me borrowing some."

Cody handed him over the flyer. "Just be careful with it, alright? They want the flyer for the tickets."

Kristoph nodded absent-mindedly. "Yeah, yeah. Cirque Du Freak, here we come!"


	3. Chapter 3

**AN: I have aged up Trucy to being around Annie's age in the books - just for the sake of a certain later plot point being a little less awkward. Enjoy!**

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As soon as I got home that night, I quickly greeted Mom and sped straight up the stairs to my room. I was a little worried if I spent too much time around Mom and Dad tonight, the plan might slip out. I was also far too on-edge - Kristoph could be sneaking out at this very moment to buy the tickets.

As I opened up my comic book to distract myself from things, my sister, Trucy, skipped in. "Polly!" She giggled, running up and hugging me.

Me and Trucy always got on well. Most of that was probably due to the five-year age gap - she was eight, and I thirteen.

"Hey, Truce," I smiled, hugging her back, though it was vaguely jittery and more awkward than usual. My worry for whether Kristoph was doing alright was affecting my every movement. When she noticed the weird I seemed to emit - and a talent for that ran in our blood - she pulled out of the hug and queried it.

"What's up?"

I didn't want to tell her the truth, but I had a feeling I wouldn't be able to lie to her. Especially not the day I snuck out. We still hadn't completely worked out the details of that, but for now it was either staying at Cody's or Kristoph's.

Besides, knowing my sister, she'd soon pester the truth out of me anyway.

"Can you keep a secret?" I asked, placing my finger on my lips. She was young, but I found I could trust her often. She'd never tell a soul about the things I did, least of all Mom and Dad. As soon as she could talk, she'd been able to perceive my thoughts and feelings and work out when I was lying. And still she never mentioned a thing to our parents.

I had to hand it to her - Trucy Enigmar was the best partner in crime.

She rolled her eyes, still grinning madly. "Of course! I'm not that young, Apollo."

I dropped my finger and decided to tell her - though vaguely - about Cody's poster.

Once I'd finished, she said, "That sounds awesome! I wanna tag along!"

"You're way too young," I replied abruptly. There was no way I'd let my 8-year-old sister come along with me and my friends to watch something illegal. Not only was that a general bad son move, it was also a very lame friend move.

"So are you," She retorted, looking over her shoulder with her arms folded.

I sighed - there was no argument there. "I'll get you a souvenir, okay? But you can't come."

She smiled, bouncing. "Then, you have to get me the best souvenir!"

Just as she said this, Mom walked in and interrupted us. Trucy ran over to hug her, still grinning. For a moment, I thought she'd spill my plan, but she kept quiet.

"Everything alright in here?" Mom asked, stroking Trucy's brunette hair.

"Fine," I nodded with a smile, putting away my money again. "Just wanted to know how much money I had."

Mom didn't seem particularly interested in what I was doing, however, so the explanation came out as a little more suspicious. She didn't say anything, though.

"Dinner's ready in five minutes, okay, both of you?" She told us as she left, and Trucy rushed back to her own room. Dad was teaching her a couple magic tricks he knew - she always loved when he showed her those. She'd even been wearing a red magician's outfit. I think Dad had just bought it her, since I'd never seen it before, and it looked just like the ones Dad and Mom used to wear when they performed as Magicians in a Circus themselves.

I wondered why they left the Circus. Were they treated badly like Mr Means told us the Freaks in Freak Shows were? Did they know any Freaks?

I didn't voice any of my questions to them that night, though. I was more concerned with not getting caught on this escapade.

Sometimes when I look back, I wish I had been caught.

* * *

Nothing but excitement crawled through me the entirety of the next day.

Today was the day that Kristoph would bring us the tickets.

We'd all agreed to meet just outside of the school gates, however when Kristoph showed up, he simply slinked passed us, a cool smile on his face. The three of us followed behind, looking almost like his very own entourage. I always suspected he did this purposefully.

Throughout all of History first period, Kristoph didn't say a word.

Seeing Mr Means after planning this out, however, was much harder than expected.

Kristoph brushed it off easily - he was able to lie like the best of them - and Cody didn't have too much of a hard time, but as for me and Hugh... we pretty much avoided our teacher's gaze as much as possible in the hopes that he couldn't see into our souls and perceive the truth.

We didn't have anything in particular to worry about, though, it seemed, and soon all of us were pestering Kristoph to find out what went on.

He led us to the field before spilling the beans.

"I have good news," He began, then screwed his face up into an awkward frown. "But I also have bad news."

Cody began by raising an eyebrow, "The good news?"

Kristoph smiled and pulled out what appeared to be a pile of tickets from the inside pocket of his jacket. I could plainly read the top one - Cirque Du Freak. "I got tickets."

"And the bad news?" The other three of us asked almost in unison.

The awkward grimace made a comeback across Kristoph's face, and soon enough all four of us wore it, also. "Only two tickets per flyer. I tried to argue with them, but... Mr Means showed up."

"What?" We all exclaimed, again in unison. I continued on without the rest, "Why was Mr Means there?"

"He was trying to shut it down, I think. Since the hooded people selling tickets seemed to scramble away as he started talking."

We all looked at each other in silence, perplexed. Would Mr Means really go all the way there to complain?

Cody was the first to speak. "Well, I'll be taking one ticket, right?" He reached to take one from Kristoph, but the blonde jerked them away from him.

"And why exactly is that?"

Cody raised an eyebrow at him as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. "I got the flyer!"

"Well, I paid the most," Kristoph retaliated.

"Then me and Kristoph go."

This time it was Hugh and I's time to argue. "You paid the least out of everybody!" I cried.

"I paid the second-most, I should go too," Hugh pointed out in a much more refined manner. For a thirteen year old, at least.

"Gentleman, gentleman..." Kristoph sighed, once again acting far older than he was. It was a little condescending, really. "I propose a solution."

We all looked at him, waiting for an explanation, but he'd already started ripping up pieces of paper from one of his books. He told us all to stand in a line away from him, then placed the ticket with the paper, and threw them at us.

Whilst Cody and Hugh scrambled for the ticket on the floor, an idea came to me.

I wasn't sure exactly why the idea was so compelling, but for some reason my conscience wanted me to use it. And with Cody and Hugh just seconds away from possibly finding the ticket, I figured I didn't have much to lose.

Following my heart, I closed my eyes, reached out, and grabbed the first clump of paper I could reach.

I opened my eyes one at a time to see the faces of my friends staring blankly at me. I looked up at the paper in my hand, and the small sheet which read in black, dripping letters:

CIRQUE DU FREAK - Admits 1


End file.
